Name: the board game market
Brand: Businesscoot
Price: 89 EUR
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.3 (3 reviews)

1.1 Definition and scope of the study

Tabletop games, that include board games, have distinguished themselves by their ability to survive through the ages and, even today, they are still at the heart of the leisure consumption habits of the French. Indeed, from Go to Monopoly or 1000 terminals, board games have gained a special place in the leisure habits of French households. like Dungeons and Dragons or Diplomacy, some games create and gather entire communities and a myriad of derivative products.

Difficult to define in absolute terms, board games are generally characterized by

A more or less complex game rule;
A minimum of 2 participants
The need for one or more material supports (game board, counters, pen, dice, cards)

The main strength of the board game market is the attraction of French players for board games. Indeed, as mentioned above, more than 85% of French people play board games regularly, which makes them one of the most fond of this type of entertainment in the world. The board game sector in France has a multitude of players, more and more numerous, and it is becoming difficult for independent publishers to stand out. This diversity gives consumers more purchasing power and they can afford to be more demanding.

Despite the revolution it represents, the advent of digital technology has not disrupted the board game market, which still finds takers, representing about 18% of the toy market .

The containment and the crisis of the COVID-19 confirmed the good health of the sector. According to an article published by Le Point, about one board game was sold per second during the containment period. More globally, board game sales exploded by 11% over 2020 compared to 2019.

1.2 A fast-growing global market

Market momentum confirmed:

The board game market is expected to grow at a significant rate of **% per year between **** and **** to reach a value of $** billion. This development benefits from a favorable context with a great popularity among the youth and the development of gaming habits, despite the important competition of ...

1.3 Overview of a robust French market

In ****, the French board game/puzzle market generated revenues of €*** million, with **.* million boxes sold over the year. It has thus been growing at a rate of +**% per year for the past * years.

The French board game market is the largest in Europe, with the fastest growth in recent years, just ...

1.4 The impact of Covid-19 on this growing market

During the Covid-** crisis, we have seen an unprecedented evolution of the market, even though it was in a period of very favorable growth for * years.

The confinement has first of all brought a serious blow to the sector, by obliging the totality of the physical points of sale to remain ...

1.5 Interview with Alexandre Ackerman, founder of Gameflix

Marine: Welcome to the Niche, the podcast that analyzes the niche market with the entrepreneurs who are moving the lines. I'm Marine and I work at Businesscoot, the startup that dusts off market research before it starts. Subscribe to our podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcast. And now, let's move on ...

2.1 French spending on board games

Household purchasing power is one of the determining factors in the market's good health: if purchasing power falls, French families have fewer resources to devote to leisure activities and board game consumption falls accordingly.Total quantities purchased of games and toys are estimated at **M new units in ****, or *.* games per ...

2.2 Determinants of board game choice

A **** dissertation by Karine Gagnon (***), entitled "Determinants of Board Game Success: individual characteristics and variables influencing consumers' appreciation of board games," provides clear answers to both on what players expect from a board game in order for it to be enjoyable, and on the direction of the editorial policy followed by ...

2.3 What are the favorite games of the French?

The favorite games of the French

According to a **** study [***], **% of French people like to play games, including **-** year olds (***).

Favorite games of the French (***) France, ****, % Source: ****

This statistic shows the results of a survey on the most popular board games in France in ****, formulated with the question, "Among the ...

2.4 Board games are growing in popularity

It can be noted that if role-playing games have been out of fashion for a while, they have nowadays the wind in their sails: the current trend is towards communication and atmosphere games leaving an increasing place to narration

Board games are enjoying growing popularity with the public and are becoming ...

2.5 Covid-19: the favorite games of the confined French

Research firm NPD has released a top * list of game sales during ****.

Source: ****

Finally, beyond these great classics, Le Point reports that over a shorter period - that of the confinement - other games were extremely requested by the French. Thus Catan, Dixit, and Ticket to Ride were far from being ...

2.6 Awareness of the main board game brands in France according to French people's favorite brand

The label "Marque Préférée des Français" (***) conducts surveys to collect data on French people's appetite for the main board game brands.

Answer to the question: Among these brands, which ones do you like? France, ****, in % Source: ****

Monopoly is the game most appreciated by the French according to ...

3.1 A market dominated by historical players

The board game market is dominated in France by the American multinationals Hasbro and Mattel. Hasbro is indeed famous for its classic games such as Monopoly, Cluedo or La Bonne Paye which are constantly in the top ** of the best sellers. Thus, the multinational Hasbro occupies the first place on the ...

3.2 Business strategies of market players

The commercial strategy for a board game publisher is complex, because beyond an objective quality or at least one that is recognized by different observers, the success of a game and its propagation among players depends significantly on a luck factor. From the elements discussed in this study, we have nevertheless ...

3.3 The different distribution channels

There are * main types of distribution channels for board games, and it is the same for the whole toy sector[***].

Supermarkets: Auchan, Carrefour, Leclerc... These brands focus on games with the widest possible target : games aimed at children, games with simple rules that can be set up quickly, often already renowned. ...

3.4 Participatory funding enhances independent publishers

The emergence of participatory funding platforms targets a segment of expert gamers, who willingly participate in the funding of board games offering a richer experience, with more material, often of high quality. These games, which offer a real immersion in a theme that must be strong, can see their prices exceed ...

3.5 The rise of board games bars

As a direct consequence of the growing number of games offered by publishers, board games bars are booming, serving as a catalyst for consumers who often have trouble making up their minds when faced with the diversity of the offer. There has been an upsurge in the number of game bars ...

4.1 Overview of the different product categories and prices

The reason that no official study provides the average age of board game players is that it is difficult to know the end user of the game purchased, as the age range is both suggested and estimated.this is because it is difficult to know who the end user of the ...

4.2 Industry trends

Digitalization of the sector

The video game industry, the first cultural industry, has largely contributed to the removal of guilt from leisure activities with the arrival of a generation of adults for whom games are a culture in itself and who are now also turning to board games. The bridges between ...

5.1 Highest standards for child protection

Board games are mainly composed of material elements that are likely to represent a danger for a young public and are therefore subject to strict regulations both on prevention and on the composition of the elements:

"Beware of pawns, elements, dice, etc., that might be lying around: a young child ...

6.1 Segmentation

This market is made of a multitude of players: more than *,*** new board games are created each year. However, the market is centralized and dominated by a handful of big players. Indeed, as shown in the table of best sellers in the first part, the biggest successes are Hasbro or Mattel ...